Is Finland's tax transparency a good idea?
This week - as is customary every year - media in Finland have published a list with the tax data of celebrities, wealthy people and politicians. Journalists discuss whether the list promotes transparency and fairness or merely fuels gossip and envy.
Voyeurism makes people unhappy
A large proportion of the published data doesn't fulfil any meaningful purpose, Lapin Kansa complains:
“Publishing tax data is a Finnish peculiarity with social relevance. Transparency is important, for example when it comes to purchases of companies or the income of important decision-makers, and also for tracking changes in society. But knowing how much a minor reality TV celebrity earns can't be important. ... According to an American study the threshold beyond which money no longer increases happiness is 75,000 dollars per year. That's not an impossible sum to earn in Finland. But one thing's for sure: it doesn't make you any happier to know how much someone else earns.”
No need to have a bad conscience
The media should be open and unapologetic about its social function, Ilta-Sanomat writes:
“Every now and then politicians call for tax data to be confidential. This demand has always been rejected and always will be. Yet one can't but be surprised by the media's stance on the publication of this data. Do they really have to keep on making complicated apologies and stressing the importance of tax data to explain why it is their responsibility to publish it? No, as the name says, this is public data. ... When they apologise in advance for publishing such data they convey the impression that part of the media would prefer not to make it public.”
Hard-earned wealth doesn't provoke envy
The publication of tax data serves an important social function, Maaseudun Tulevaisuus stresses:
“The lists with the tax data are known as the 'gossip columns'. But the term doesn't quite hit the mark because freely accessible taxation data pulls the rug out from under gossip and creates the possibility for objective discussion. Public access to tax data is an important factor in achieving social transparency. Openness sheds light on insider networks, hampers criminal activity and curbs extravagant behaviour. The worker deserves his pay, and hard work definitely deserves good pay. Well earned success can withstand close scrutiny.”
Public tax data doesn't make things fairer
Lapin Kansa has its doubts about the positive impact of publishing all tax data:
“It is widely believed that such openness strengthens the people's trust in society, but does it really? Or does the tax gossip list just stoke envy? Openness and transparency are - or at least should be - an integral part of democracy, but in this case the situation isn't that simple. … In Finland people believe that if the average citizen can compare his wage packet with that of his boss this will promote moderation and fairness. The income gaps, however, have only widened in the last few decades of tax transparency. The rich have become richer while the purchasing power of the poor has decreased. Of course, one might ask whether the income gap wouldn't be even larger if it weren't for the publishing of tax data.”